Originally published: September 19, 2013

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KEMBLE, ONT. — The name was Cobble Beach not Pebble Beach, but this Concours d’Elegance was much more than a pale imitation (including the name) of the renowned classic car show held each August on California’s scenic Monterey Peninsula. Oh, it was a copy, all right — in the most flattering way.

Held recently at the just-as-scenic Cobble Beach golf resort community in Georgian Bay, just north of Owen Sound, Ont., the Concours featured a wide-open selection of more than 120 cars in 16 classes ranging from “brass era” horseless carriages such as a 1903 Oldsmobile Model R and 1904 Ford Model AC to modern supercars like the Ferrari SA Aperta and McLaren 12C Spider.

In between were sports cars, race cars (including Gilles Villeneuve’s Ferrari 312T3 F1 car), hot rods, muscle cars, vintage cars, luxury cars, American cars, European cars, Canadian cars and others, more than a few with values trailing six zeroes behind them. But for every Isotta-Fraschini (the eventual Best in Show winner), Pierce-Arrow and Rolls-Royce, there was also a Plymouth Hemi Cuda, Ford T-bird and Acadian Beaumont two-door coupe.

Admittedly, some of the classes might have been a little light in depth and the contenders not finished to the same obsessed detail that marks Pebble Beach’s upper crust doyennes, but to quote Hollywood legend Spencer Tracy’s line regarding equally legendary Katherine Hepburn’s character in the 1952 rom-com Pat and Mike: “Not much meat on her, but what’s there is cherce [choice].”

Indeed, there was quality over quantity. (And I can’t help thinking the long and lanky Ms. Hepburn would have looked particularly dashing behind the wheel of the 1938 Steyr 220 roadster — in stunning Glaser coachwork — that finished second in the European Classics 1925 to 1948 class.)

As much as the cars were the stars, they were equaled by the enthusiasm of their owners or caretakers, most standing or sitting within close proximity of their prized possessions, willing to talk long and with obvious knowledge to friends, fellow enthusiasts and strangers alike. Alan Sands of Tottenham, Ont., is just one example. As a lifetime admirer of post-war sports cars, his 1954 Allard J2X — a lightweight British two-seater powered by a large-displacement Cadillac V8 — caught my eye.

Sands has owned and raced his car in local events for 51 years. “I was racing my [Triumph] TR2, when this Allard went by me at a terrible rate. I said to myself: ‘I have to have that car.’” Eventually, he did. The car, although looking pristine, has never been restored, says Sands, but it has received continuous maintenance over the years. And the Allard has never been towed or trailered to an event; it’s always been driven.

Another, Steve Plunkett, from London, Ont., is rather well known in the old-car community, as much for his philanthropy and as organizer of the annual Fleetwood Country Cruize-in — billed as Canada’s largest outdoor car show, which is held on his estate — as for his astounding collection of 49 Cadillacs (the largest in the country). Why the obsession with Caddies? “It might not be popular [to say], but there’s no car company on the planet that has brought forth more [automotive] innovations than General Motors. And many of those innovations came through Cadillac.”

Plunkett, because of his vast knowledge of vintage and collectible automobiles as well as his organizing skills, was a special advisor to the Cobble Beach Concours, so his excitement and enthusiasm for this event and its venue could be seen as a little one-sided, although his opinion was one held by the majority of exhibitors and the attending public.

John Hogg, also from London, was just as enthused about the Concours, as well as his lovingly restored 1946 Ford Woody station wagon, much of the work done by him. The Canadian-built wagon was one of those mythical “barn finds,” having been stored since 1962. Hogg and his wife bought it in 2001, hauled it out of the barn and commenced restoration on its sad state — mechanical, metal and wood. He bought some new wood parts, making others and repairing and reusing what he could of the original maple. He says the car is still in need of detail work.

Undoubtedly, each featured car has a history and a tale just as interesting, with an appreciative number of fans, judging by the numbers filling the 18th green on a warm, sunny late-summer day. This makes one wonder: What took so long to put on an automobile event of this magnitude in Canada?

Time and money are the obvious answers, says Concours show chairman and founder Rob McLeese. “There have been several other attempts; not sure why they haven’t persisted, but they are a lot of work and cost a lot to put on properly.

“Most of the Concours-type shows in Canada today tend to be more local shows or exotics, not this calibre of luxury event, and do not extend into two days.”

The Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance, he says, included the four-hour Participants’ Tour on Friday as well as a Tour lunch, a kickoff dinner for the participants and judges on the Friday night, and a gala dinner on the Saturday night after the Concours awards ceremony.

It will unlikely ever reach the status of marquee Concours such as Pebble Beach, Amelia Island in Florida or the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Lake Como, Italy, but, by outward appearance, the inaugural Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance made a brilliant debut on the classic-car stage. Fans of vintage metal should circle Sunday, Sept. 14, 2014 on their calendar, for that’s the date of next year’s show. I plan to be there.

It’s also worth mentioning that proceeds raised by the Concours are going to Sunnybrook Foundation to fund a state-of-the-art helipad on the rooftop of the Toronto hospital.